Christmas Treats :-)

 

I love baking at Christmas. It's a nice excuse to have a few thousand extra calories, all in the name of a holiday, of course ;-) I know I'll be running off these calories for the rest of winter, but hey, these desserts are worth it.

Peanut Butter Surprise Cupcakes
 

 

I've been spending WAY too much time on Pinterest lately, pinning cupcakes and cookies and all kinds of dessert ideas. I saw these Peanut Butter Surprise Cupcakes and HAD to have them. Reese's are, after all, my favorite candy eva, and these were like big Reese's. They're cupcakes with buckeyes in the center, and Reese's on top.

I mean, really, what more does one need?

Not to mention, they were EASY.

PEANUT BUTTER SURPRISE CUPCAKES

Center: 1 1/2 cups Peanut butter

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

6 cups confectionary sugar

Mix all in a mixer (my trusty Kitchen Aid was busy tonight!) then form into balls a little smaller than 1-inch around.

 

For the cupcakes, I mixed up Devil's Food cake mix. Line your cupcake pans with liners, add a little cake mix on the bottom, put in a peanut butter ball, then top with enough cake mix to cover. Bake as directed on the box.

 

The frosting is a Peanut Butter Buttercream  (I know, the calories in this...I can't even think about them!)

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream (I used half-and-half)

4-5 cups confectionary sugar

 

Blend all in the mixer, whipping on high speed until fluffy. Add more or less cream and confectionary sugar to get the consistency you want. Frost, top with a mini Reese's, and eat!

 

 

These are the ones I made for my husband's company (along with some Kiss cookies).

Then I made these fun Santa cupcakes. It's a basic yellow cake cupcake (from my trusty Betty Crocker), topped with white buttercream (what I did was double the above recipe for buttercream, but left out the peanut butter. Frosted the Santa ones first, then mixed in the PB and frosted the Peanut Butter Surprise Cupcakes).

The legs are Twizzlers, cut in thirds. Dip in frosting, then top with black frosting boots. I sprinkled the cupcakes with white sparkles. Easy and cute!!

 

Follow me on Pinterest, or let me know if you're a foodie like me and I'll follow you! Also, look for info soon about a new book!

 

I'm off to have cupcakes and milk! :-)

 

Shirley